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  • Whilst councils cannot guarantee Service Families a place at their first choice

  • school, the Admissions Authorities of maintained and Academy schools have a

  • responsibility to arrange a school place before a Service Family moves to their

  • new home. The Service Family must provide an official letter declaring a

  • relocation date and a unit postal address or quartering area address.

  • For standard Year R, Year 3 and Year 7 admissions, for families applying

  • to start in September who are moving from elsewhere in England you must apply

  • to the council where you currently live. If you're living elsewhere in the UK or

  • overseas then the application will be to the council you are moving too.

  • There are deadline dates for all applications, both civilian and military. If the deadline

  • can't be met let the Admissions Team know you are a

  • Service Family as they may be able to treat the application as on-time.

  • For in-year applications or mid-year transfers, they can be made either to the council where

  • the preferred school is or directly to the school.

  • So there are two key pieces of legislation that are considered in relation to in-year admissions outside

  • the normal admissions round. An exception may be possible for a child from a

  • Service Family background but there is no guarantee. Firstly there's the legal

  • infant class size of 30 pupils. An Admissions Authority may admit a service

  • pupil over this infant class size without the need for an extra teacher.

  • Secondly, some local authorities include a category for children of UK service

  • personnel in their Fair Access protocol.

  • In your application consideration may be given to the circumstances of both the child and the school,

  • the child's position on the waiting list, whether there are other service children on the

  • list and whether there's a reasonable alternative school place available.

  • The School Admissions Team will do their utmost to

  • accommodate your wishes, however they may not be able to guarantee your

  • first-choice school. You'll be sent a letter with the decision about your

  • child's school. If you are refused a place at any school you

  • applied for, you can ask for your child's name to be added to the waiting list for that school.

  • You also have the right to make an appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel;

  • your letter will tell you how to do this and all local authorities are

  • required to publish information about the appeals process on their website.

  • All the contributors of this video hope that you found the contents useful and the

  • information has supported your thinking.

Whilst councils cannot guarantee Service Families a place at their first choice

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